[Mark Chase]

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The sun shone down as we donned our dry suits and zipped up. The sweet on our brows could be easily explained away by the heat of the day as Andrew and I crunched our way across the gravel to the dive site. Only we knew the true reason

THE DIVE.

Full twin set kit on and rig checked we descended rapidly into the murky waters down to planed dive depth. Immediately Andrew signalled me that there was a problem. Our pre arranged hand signals worked well and I understood fully his needs. I carefully considered the risk to my personal safety then I made my decision.

I stood up, grabbed the additional 2kg off of the jetty and handed it to Andrew and then descended again to planned dive depth 2m.

2kg was not enough so again without thought this time to my personal well being I surfaced and grabbed an additional 1kg  off the jetty.

It worked. Andrew was now hovering just off the bottom in the cruel depths of Wraysbury lake.

We surfaced and I begged Andrew to let me go home now but he was having no wimping out on this dive. He insisted on a full 18mins bottom time at 8m in 0.5m viz and despite my trepidation I followed the white glow of his twin set into the gloom. I was to be rewarded for my bravery by spotting a large plastic box full of broken bricks and a pike with myopic eyes that was probably dead but neither Andrew or I had the courage to prod it as it was rather large.

We left that dive site older, wiser and better divers. We now know that an additional 3kg is required for the 3mm O3 compressed neoprene dry suit.

Before we left the man who ran the dive site gave me a cert card allowing me re-admittance for a small fee in the future. But as I drove away I knew in my heart that I would not have what it takes to ever dive that site again.

It was crap  

ATB

Mark Chase

 

[Scuba1]

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<font color='#000080'>Keep them comming: It is divereports like that  we are all craving for. Did you do that one on Air ? And there was me today raking sea urchins (as Bait )together for an old fisherman, so he can go fishing for Parrot Fish tomorrow. The stuff here is so salty and warm, it makes me cringe with envy

Regards
Michael

 

[JohnK]

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Excellent spoof - next time I hope you do it DIR!!!

 

[Andy Phillips]

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The tears rolled down my face, though from laughter or shame I am not at all sure.

For the entertainment of those out there, I had an 18/30 mix, a whole 80bar as I entered the water and 60 bar as I left. I'll not mention MArks SAC though, nor indeed the reason for it.

I nearly gave the Pike a prod to see if it was alive but remembered they have teath, just in the nick of time.

I'll get you in there again Mark, those reed beds look sooooo inviting.

Take care,

Andrew

 

[abucksdiver]

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<font color='#000080'>I've met one of the Wraysbury Pike before... also thought it was dead (in fact, my initial thought was that it was a plastic one that somebody had hung from the roof of one of the boats)... that was until it turned around to face me head-on....


abucks

 

[MATTBIN]

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Hey guys, one for the log-book? You know you could easily have got another metre and a half just by sticking your hands into the silt.
Pike? I never saw no pike when I dived it, you sure it wasnt narcosis?

Still, its better than staying dry AND you can get the car/kit near the waters edge, something that cant be said of all dive sites.

Matt

 

[Scuba1]

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<font color='#000080'>Plus Matt you can get out with a giant sride

Dive safe
Michael

 

[Diving Dude]

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Andy.
You should have gone to the hole they are digging in the middle, 12 mtrs deep now, you really would have benefited using trimix there.

 

[tom]

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Mark, I'm surprised you let the pike escape after your comments on the conger thread.

Or didn't you know they were edible?

Tom

 

[steve-k]

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<font color='#000080'>eccy delpf pre scuba springs

it was a cold winters night as we turned into the delph, the water didn’t look inviting, my pleas to go to the pub where ignored

reluctantly, but quickly got kitted up, checked my touch, and backup, backup a bit dull, but main fine
Chris my buddy doing the same only to find he had not charged his up, and no backup

so we entered the water with Chris on my main torch, and me looking over his shoulder, as I needed to conserve the batteries in mine,
immediately got entangled in a tesco trolley at 1m, stirred the silt up to 0m vis and both surfaced feeling we had done a 40m dive
swim out abit to avoid the stirred silt, descend to 6m, check computer to say I am at 45m, strange as I know its maximum depth was 13m, it was also telling me that my air was running out fast,  200l 1800l 1600l this fast, checking for leaks, then checking my contents gage confirmed my computer had gone tits up
I had to take it off and put it in my pocket, as you cant help look and it messes with your head lol
we surface again to check we are only at 6m
swim out to the 13m deep part descend again, I descend on my very small very dull backup light, as I land what looks like a body bag comes into my view, I shite myself, it looked and felt just like a body bag, on further investigation it was a post office sack full of mail, my hart still pounding I look towards my buddy for reassurance, when a 6`pike swam in-between us stopped dead looked me in the eye then calmly drifted off
(and if pike don’t grow 6` then I have found the loch ness monster)

enough, end of dive, go to the pup, never go back

 

[Bob Cooper]

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Mark

I'd be interested to hear more about your dive planning for this.  How many deco gasses did you carry? and how did you mitigate against oxtox with such long O2 exposures?  Did you run 5 min backgas breaks, full-face masks or did you have a habitat?  How many support divers did you need for a dive like this?

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

Bob

 

[Rob Evans]

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Andy - 18/30 mix?  Can't be bothered with the maths, but wouldn't that give you a negative END at that depth?  Did you get narked when you got out of the water?

 

[Mark Chase]

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Quote[/b] (Bob Cooper @ Sep. 05 2003,18:25)]Mark

I'd be interested to hear more about your dive planning for this.  How many deco gasses did you carry? and how did you mitigate against oxtox with such long O2 exposures?  Did you run 5 min backgas breaks, full-face masks or did you have a habitat?  How many support divers did you need for a dive like this?

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

Bob

I have to be honist Bob. Your just not ready for dives of this level of crappyness yet. I feel it would be irisponsable of me to pass on the data you require.

Come back when you have had at least two seasons of blown out dives and then you might be desperate enough to get wet for a dive this sad.

Might I also sugest build up dives starting somwhere easy like Stony Cove and building up with Crapenway and Guildensludge.

I must stress that some divers have lost the will to live after diving at Wraysbury.

Dive Safe

Mark Chase    

 

[Andy Phillips]

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Rob

Oh how can I express this, I consider myself to have a high Narc. tolerence, I was OK at 0M but oh boy, when I assended the steps at home and acheive a +1M, well that was that I had to swiftly decend. Mind you it is faintly possible that it could have had something to do with the bottle of Chablis I had to drink - just to calm my nerves after the dive you understand.

Just out of curiosity, why has no one bitten the bait I left out about Marks SAC

Andrew


p.s.    
I belive we are finally going to meet on the Mol in a few weeks, I belive Bob might be there also. I feel a post dive Coke-e-Cola coming on.

 

[Rob Evans]

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Oh go on then, I'm biting.  What about Mark's SAC?

PS Mark, if you can e-mail me the dates of the Mol dives I'd be ever so grateful, bloody computer's rotted me brain and I've lost the e-mail you fired out.
A bud and I are cooking up a jaunt to either the Osprey or Alberny in the very near future, let me know if you guys are interested. Not quite up to Wraysbury standards, but if you don't mind slumming it...

 

[Diving Dude]

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Andy & Mark.
I know you guys are diving the Mol on tuesday 9th, unfortunatly l can't, when are you next planning it.

 

[Rob Evans]

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Howard - 14th Sept.......Caleb Sprague.....She's calling you......Dive me baby, dazzle me with that dry suit of yours, explore my depths, nick my lobsters, run away from my congers, come to meeeeeee

 

[Mark Chase]

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Doing the Mol on:

9th September
15th November
13th December

More dates to follow.

Doing the Bessal on the 23rd September but that is 65m

Ohh yes my SAC

To aprecaite fulley the situation you have to be awair that I was trying to perform manual (no slob knob) shutdowns at between 5 and 2m deep. The resulting strugle sent gobs of air out of my auto dump and cuff dump which had to be replaced all the time, and did I mention that I was using suit for boyency as I was not carrying enough weigt to use the wing and didnt want to be strugling with the wing and the shut downs at 5m.

I was going down to the deck every time I raised my arm over my head to grab the valve because I was loosing so much air out of the dumps. Obviously at depth this is not a big issue as the presure change is not so drastic, but at 5m a cuff dump has a big disadvantage.

End result is after about 6 shut down drills including one where I undid both sholder adjusters and pushed the tanks up level with my ears just to prove to my self it wasent going to help mooving the tanks up. I got through about 40-50bar of gas and went streight into the dive shop to order a new slob knob    

That said if any one has read my other post on this they will note that the valves are so bloody stiff to turn that for the first time ever I worry about using a slob knob for shut downs.

Soon as the tanks are empty (their full of 37% at the moment) I will be striping the valves to see if I can improve things. Till then I will have a pony attached to the rig in case I cant shut down quick enough. Having 37% in meens I wont be deep so I can get up on a pony if required. In fact my next planned Nitrox dive is the Far Mulbury on the 14th Sep and thats 7m deep

. Hoping to convince the wife that there is a resion to dive off of littlehampton.

So there we are SAC apx 37

ATB

Mark Chase

 

[Dan]

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So is that dive on the 14th with Mr Applin as I am on that one too. Doing U1195 first then the Mulberry as a second dive. See you on the boat